It's My Birthday!

Yes, it's my birthday. Here's some fun trivia about birthdays for all of you this Friday. Have a piece of cake and a glass (or two..or three) of your favourite beverage!

• The melody for the Happy Birthday song was first penned by two sisters, Mildred and Patty Hill. Yes, it took 2 people to write that song.
• 
  
• It is thought that birthday celebrations originated in the Roman Empire. And they were largely due to the prominent religion at the time, Mithraism, which was later supplanted by Christianity.
• 
  
• Although you might celebrate your birthday every year, your actual birthday (being the same day of the week you were born) only occurs once every 7 years.
• 
  
• Children who are on the leap day of February 29th often celebrate their birthdays on March 1st.
• 
  
• Germans take birthdays very seriously, sometimes receiving a half-day of vacation. The most common gifts among friends include flowers and wine.
• 
  
• In England, when you reach 80, 90 or 100 years of age, you receive a telegram from the Queen.
• 
  
• In India, black and white gift wrapping is considered unlucky.
• 
  
• The French and Italian celebrate Name Days more so than birthdays.
• 
  
• In the Islamic world, green is a good color to use for wrapping.
• 
  
• A Golden Birthday happens only once in a person's lifetime. It happens when the person's age and the date of the day they were born is the same.
• 
  
• More people celebrate their birthdays in August than in any other month. The two other months in which birthday rates are high is July and September.
• 
  
• Close to two billion Birthday Cards are sent each year in the U.S. alone, accounting for nearly 58 percent of all cards sent.
• 
  
• The world's largest birthday cake was created in 1989 it weighed 128,238 pounds, 8 oz. and used 16,209 pounds of icing.
• 
  
• The most common birth date is October 5 and the least common is May 22 in U.S.A.
• 
  
• The day of the week in which the most babies are born is Tuesday while Sunday is the lowest day.
• 
  
• Anne Frank's world famous diary was given to her when she was thirteen years old.
• 
  
• The children’s day in India is celebrated on 14th November- the birthday of Jawahar Lal Nehru in memory of his love for children.

• 
  
• The Sultan of Brunei hosted the world's most expensive birthday party to celebrate his 50th Birthday on 13 July, 1996. The cost was a whopping US $27.2 million. Three concerts featuring Michael Jackson costs US $16 million of the total amounts.
• 
  
• Paul McCartney's (who is also celebrating his birthday today) birth certificate was auctioned in March 1997, for US $84,146. It is believed to be the world's most expensive birth certificate.
• 
  
• William Shakespeare died on his 52nd birthday: 23 April 1616.